'Rinderpest cattle plague eradicated'

Today we witness a historical event as rinderpest is the first animal disease ever to be eradicated by humankind," OIE Director General Bernard Vallat said during the organization's annual gathering on Wednesday.

Known before the Roman era, Rinderpest affected humans by killing hundreds of millions of cattle in Europe, Africa and Asia caused by major famines.

One Rinderpest pandemic in Africa in the 19th century is estimated to have been responsible for the starvation of one-third of Ethiopians, Reuters reported.

"These animals are used for work but also for milk and meat,” said OIE Regional Representative for Africa Yacouba Samake. “If the disease hits the herd, all these high-quality proteins, you can forget them, it's a catastrophe."

According to OIE, the 198 countries with rinderpest-susceptible animals are now free of the disease with the support of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

A global campaign was triggered when imported animals in Belgium caused a Rinderpest outbreak in 1920 leading to the creation of the OIE in 1924.

The Global Rinderpest Eradication Program (GREP) was coordinated by the FAO in collaboration with the OIE and major donors such as the European Commission in the 1980s to ensure the full eradication of the disease.